HARAKIRI, the new studio album from singer, songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist, poet and political activist Serj Tankian is set to be
released July 6th. Look for a teaser video with a snippet of the first single,
‘Figure It Out’, on www.serjtankian.com. ‘Figure It Out’
will hit radio airwaves and go on sale in New Zealand on May 1.
HARAKIRI, a Japanese word meaning ritualistic suicide, is the follow up to
2010’s critically acclaimed IMPERFECT HARMONIES and the third solo release
from the System Of A Down frontman. As with 2007’s ELECT THE DEAD and
IMPERFECT HARMONIES, Serj produced HARAKIRI himself at his home studio in Los
Angeles. He tried to approach writing a little differently this time around
“I used the Apple iPad as a songwriting instrument to sketch out three of the
songs on the record” explains Serj. “We must trick ourselves into writing in
different ways to get unexpected results.” The album will also feature
performances by Serj’s touring band, The F.C.C. – Dan Monti on guitar,
Mario Pagliarulo on bass, and Troy Zeigler on drums. Dan Monti is also co-mixing
and co-engineering the album with Serj. The album is mastered by Vlado Meller
(Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West).
Serj reveals each of the song titles in a statement describing HARAKIRI
below. The song names are in order and in bold:
“The Cornucopia of love/hate affairs with Gaia have made us scream
“Figure It Out! CEOs are the disease.” Where abusive capitalism's only fate
is human/environmental devastation. The Ching Chime, diminutive drama of a
gangsta Butterfly revealed that humanity's tears actually outweigh yearly
rainfall on the planet.
We have witnessed Harakiri on a grand scale tearing out the Occupied Tears of
victims preyed on by victims turned aggressors creating a Deafening Silence
through which we hear a voice plead, "Forget Me Knot, my child.”
Reality TV has become the searing indictment of a society best described as
the Uneducated Democracy. The daughters of the evolution Weave On with blood
dripping down their guilty hands onto the flag as the word republic is replaced
by empire.” – Serj Tankian
The symbolism of entire species eradicating themselves on a large scale
struck Serj emotionally, and is an underlying theme on the entire record. He
took that idea and went to work writing, incorporating all of the experiences of
his chaotic year to make a different kind of record. “The record is different
than any I've made as a solo artist. It is much more driving and punk oriented
with influences ranging from goth to electronic to 80’s vibes, dynamically
heavy rock to epic melodic songs. Lyrically, it spans the gauntlet of themes
from personal, political and philosophical to spiritual, humor and love.”
Much of HARAKIRI was written in 2011, which was an incredibly busy year for
the diversely talented musician and what Serj describes as “the busiest, most
productive year of my life so far.” In February, the rock musical Prometheus
Bound, which he composed all of the music for, opened at the Oberon Theater at
Harvard in Boston to rave reviews. 2011 also saw Serj release his second poetry
book, Glaring Through Oblivion. He toured with System of a Down across three
continents, performed with the Opera Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia, where he
also had political meetings with heads of state and hosted non-profit events. He
then performed his first ever concert in Lebanon, the place of his birth, with
the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. When he returned to the US, he
finished writing four records: a jazz record, an electronic record he wrote with
his friend Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence, a full classical symphony
called Orca, and the new solo rock record, HARAKIRI, which is released on
6th July.
